Music Is High
Fidelity
From
top to bottom: Marantz SA-14S1 SACD/CD/USB-DAC player, Sony DTC-ZA5ES DAT
recorder, ADCOM GFP-555MKII preamp, ADCOM GFA-5500 power amps, Dynaudio Contour
1.8MKII Speakers. Hidden at back are Music Server, NAS and Wireless/Wired
Router
Adcom GFA-5500
Power Amplifier
Designed by Nelson Pass when he was in ADCOM,
now the founder for PASS AUDIO it packed a lot of power to drive the Dynaudio speakers. It is a pure MOSFET design from input to
output stage. One channel is disabled and functioned as a mono-block amplifier.
ADCOM GFA-5500 Power Amplifier
Adcom GFP-555MKII
Preamplifier
This pre-amplifier Burr-Brown OPA627 in the input stage while the phono and tone circuits use Burr-Brown OPA2604. It has two
pre out; one is direct coupled with no output cap, the bypass mode. This
ensures subsonic bass is reproduced. This is considered many, a well-balanced
and musical preamp by Adcom to date.
ADCOM GFP-555MKII Preamplifier
Marantz Reference SA-14S1 SACD/CD/USB-DAC
player
SA-14S1 delivers music with passion and musicality; sweet, lush and warm
with extended highs. It has two selectable digital filters; I prefer FL2- gentle
roll off; it sounds richer in the mid and gentle on the highs. It uses high-end
Burr-Brown DSD1792A DAC and HDAM SA2 discrete Class A analog output amps. In
the USB-DAC mode allows playback of Hi-Res PCM/DSD from Music Server and SPDIF
coaxial input from Sony DAT Deck.
Marantz
Reference SA-14S1 SACD/CD/USB-DAC review
Music Server Network Player
I love the idea of centralized my music collection so I can play them
back anywhere in the house. Setup is using Intel NUC DN2820FYKH Music Server
loaded with Windows 7 x64. Software playback is handled by JRiver
Media Centre with Marantz ASIO driver optimized for lowest latency playback.
Music files are stored in Buffalo LinkStation NAS and
are connected to gigabyte router then to the Music Server via CAT6 gigabyte LAN
cables. StraightWire USB cable is used to connect
from the Music Server to the Marantz SA-14S1. Playback format from PCM
16-bit/24-bit sampled from 44.1kHz to 192kHz to DSD
sampled at 2.82MHz and 5.644MHz. Display of song titles are viewed via HDMI to
TV monitor.
Right to left: Intel NUC Music Server, 3TB WD
RED Buffalo LinkStation NAS
Sony DTC-ZA5ES Digital Audio Tape
My passion of compiling favorite CDs and
LPs into tape started when I was very young. It was in 1996 I got myself a Sony
DAT deck and started to do some serious recordings. Over the span of years, I
have complied over 200 tapes. Each can store up to 3 hours of music using a DDS
tape. The tapes are recorded in Super Bit Mapping (SBM) giving a 20-bit/48kHz
resolution. I use the DAT deck as a transport and digitally coaxial out to the
Marantz SA-14S1 DAC. Taralabs RSC Digital 75 coaxial
cable is used. It sounded so good even after so many years!
Music For My
Bedroom
Fostex
HP-A4 DAC/headphone/line-out amp uses a Burr-Brown flagship PCM1792A DAC and
Burr-Brown OPA2134 (socketed) amp driving Sennheiser
HD600. It has a lush and slightly warmer and sweet sounding. The line out is
connected to Philips Mini-HiFi. A Sony Vaio Laptop loaded with JRiver
Media player for high res PCM/DSD streaming via Wi-Fi. I use it for late night
listening at comfort of my room.
Sennheiser
HD600 review Fostex
HP-A4 DAC/Headphone Amp
Dynaudio Contour
1.8MK2 Floor standing speakers
They are quite compact but sturdy in construction.
Each weighed about 18.5kg, this twin drivers and a soft dome tweeter deliver a
big soundstage coupled with very good low frequency bass. The highs are sweet
simply sounds musical! Tweaked: The internal wiring of the speakers have been
upgraded to Taralab RSC Reference Generation II and
soldered with Wonder Solder - The mid is more lush, the high is sweeter while
bass is tighter, overall improvement is good!
Music On The Go
Fiio X5 uses flagship Burr-Brown
PCM1792A DAC, OPA1612 as LPF and line out amp. LMH6643 is used as headphone
amps driving Beyerdynamic T-50P headphones. What I
really like it has a very spacious and holographic soundstage.
Speaker
cable: Goertz by Alpha-Core, MI-3
Interconnectors:
Taralabs RSC Reference
Generation II and Taralab RSC Prime
Power
Cables: Belden CDT and WattGate plugs
1998,
1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014 Copyright Guy M.R Email: guymrob@yahoo.com.sg